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Show Speaking Released by Western Newspaper Union. DASEBALL'S most prominent " leaders have had their fingers crossed for quite some time and with sufficient reason. The outlook for baseball has been the subject ol endless private and public discussion. Many of the game's leaders insisted that they were going ahead with plans for the coming season in the belief that baseball is worthwhile during wartime. war-time. Now many of them believe that ball players soon will be included includ-ed on the next list of non-essentials with orders for all between the ages of 18 and 38 to find war plant jobs or go to war. The latter situation would bring untold hardships to the game. One Chicago sports writer had the following fol-lowing to say: "Check of the present rosters show the entire National league could put only 10 players on the field if all between the ages of 18 and 38 were taken except the 4-F men. The American loop could field only six under the same circumstances." circum-stances." Draft Results He demonstrated that only four teams in the National circuit would be able to , put a man on the field Brooklyn, New York, St. Louis and Chicago. The same is true only more so of the American league. Boston, Cleveland and St. Louis each would have three players left. All remaining players I w? 'J m ,flh ,aeagUeS PaulMcNutt would be 38 years or older or would have a 4-F draft classification. It's easy to understand how difficult dif-ficult baseball's position would be if the War Manpower commission decided to declare pro athletes nonessentials. non-essentials. Chances are that most clubs could round up enough over-38 veterans and 4-F players to put a team on the field. But the game would be bard to recognize. When Paul V. McNutt, chairman of the WMC, was asked not long ago what the commission's attitude toward professional baseball would be, his reply was: "Oh, I wouldn't be averse to see- ing men over 38 pitching and batting a ball around' Wanted: An Ansiver All of whch might have meant a lot or a little. However, his remarks didn't answer the question. Certainly nobody in baseball has asked any favors. Nor has anybody in any of the other professional sports, for that matter. All they have even wanted to know is how they stand whether Washington wants them to go ahead or not. There was a time not long ago when baseball couldn't have expected expect-ed a definite answer. No one knew the answer to the question. But it seems now that if the WMC knows where designers of costume jewelry, bartenders, etc., stand in the current scheme of things, it ought to know where ball players stand. And there's no reason why such knowledge knowl-edge should be kept secret. In our opinion baseball will open the 1943 season on schedule with eight teams in each league playing ball as usual. Many observers would not be surprised to see the season curtailed by at least one month. About Schedules Quite a few leaders advocated a 144-game schedule this year. Com- miccinnpr K. M. missioner K. M. Landis' vote was necessary to retain the customary 154-game 154-game schedule. Incidentally, In-cidentally, the world champion Cardinals refused to give up their final Sunday date for a St. Louis doubleheader. It is obvious that quite a few players I , I I; now working on war Judge Landis jobs Qr on arms will remain there until given definite word that they can play baseball during the summer. All sports carry an entertainment and emotion value that is important to our way of life. Just how important impor-tant is debatable. Certainly sports and all forms of recreation should, we think, be ruled out if the manpower man-power situation becomes that acute. Very little matters these days unless it hastens the inevitable end of Hit-w Hit-w and his lesser lights. It is foolish to speak of "civilian sacrifices" in connection with the possible abandonment of professional profession-al sports. The sports fan who may be unable to see his favorite team in action need only to remember what the men on the fighting fronts are giving up and going through. Such a contrast would leave little room for criticism. But that doesn't alter the fact that baseball should be given as fair a shake as any other business activity. If other workers in specific fields know their status, then baseball players should be told. SPORTS SHORTS C The Cincinnati Reds will train at Indiana university. Jack Meagher, Auburn head coach, has entered the navy as a rjoTcronin, Boston Red Sox manager, man-ager, declares servicemen are unanimous in wanting baseball to TmT Gowdy, 53, first major league ball player to enlist m miliary mili-ary service during World War I nas beon commissioned a captain in the army. |